Ministers, ruling party members shielding group

Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Nov 1: A Vista Group that claims to be the Multi-National Company (MNC) with offices at many places across the world has fake certificate of Registration from Labour Department in Srinagar with the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company in possession of questionable Aadhar Cards.
The Multi National Vista Group has fake registration certificate from Labour Department. The registration of any business establishment under the Jammu and Kashmir Shops and Establishment Act 1996 is mandatory in the State but the registration certificate (Registration No 8714/A/111/ Srinagar) of the group in the name of M/S Vista Group with Burhan Beig son of Shafat Ahmad Beig, 110/2 Wazir Beig Srinagar as the Employer is fake.
The records of the Labour Department showed that the registration number 8714/A/111/ Srinagar belonged to M/S Saaleh & Co (Cloth shop), Mahraj Bazaar, Srinagar with Mushtaq Ahmad son of Haji Ali Mohammad as Employer. He has been issued this registration number on 20/12/2014.
When asked about the fake registration certificate of the company of the Labour Department, Beig said it is genuine and has been issued by Labour Department in April this year.
Beig said that he didn’t possess any Aadhar Card but his Aadhar Card copy in possession of Excelsior showed his Aadhar Card No as 2544 5770 7254 with address Burhan Ahmad Beigh son of Shafqat Ahmad Beigh H. No. 111 Vipul Tatvam Villa, Sector 49, Gurgaon, Teh: Gurgaon, Distt, Gurgaon.
Another Aadhar Card in possession of Excelsior belonging to one Sonakshi Baig W/o Andy Baig, 111 Tatvam Villa, Sector 49, Gurgaon, Distt Gurgaon, Haryana – 1222018 has same Aadhar Card no. 2544 5770 7254 as of Burhan Beigh’s card. However, photograph on the card is of Sonakshi Kalra who is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vista Group.
The group claimed it has offices in Gurgaon, Dubai, New Zealand, Malaysia, Chandigarh, Srinagar and Jammu, and offers jobs and various other services. However, its office in Gurgaon already stands closed but Beig told Excelsior it is functional.
A letter of handing over of possession of Gurgaon office by Vista group to its owner reads: “This is to certify that we authorize Akshdeep Narang to collect keys and take possession of the unit 508, 509 and 510 from Vista Group. The possession taken by Akash in whatsoever condition will be final and no discussion over it will take place after the possession of the property has been taken from the Vista Group.”
The group recently invited applications for various jobs and some job aspirants alleged that the company has charged them Rs 550. And sources in the Company said that initially they had a target of one lakh applications.
The Chairman of the company, Burhan Beig also operating under Andy Beig, told Excelsior that the company received 4300 job applications from various parts of Kashmir. But Beig denied having charged any amount from these aspirants.
On its website, the company says it is a “conglomerate serving more than 360 businesses worldwide.” It also said that it has been nine years since it launched its ‘first Vista Group logo’.
The website has no information about the company’s team. There are five links titled ‘Founder President’, ‘Chairman’, ‘Board Members’, ‘Committee Members’, and ‘Meet Our People’, but none of them link to any webpage. There are links to 12 of the company’s ‘ventures’ that lead to their respective websites, but each one of them is ‘under maintenance’.
The company, on its website, claimed it evolved over nine years, but the main website has been registered on October 3, only 25 days before the company announced its operations in Kashmir. Other associated websites, which are under maintenance, are also registered only days before the company’s inauguration in Kashmir.
After doubts about the genuineness of the company and its operations in Kashmir, District Magistrate Srinagar sent a team of officials to investigate it. But sources said that some of the Ministers and senior party leaders of ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) influenced the officials and hampered the investigations. Sources said that the officials received calls from the politicians, including some Ministers and MLAs, to stop acting against the company.